


Peace for the Drowned

by anotherfirename



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, POV First Person, Passing reference to child death, Supernatural - Freeform, ghost story, he's a ghost so you can connect the dots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-31
Updated: 2016-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28410879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherfirename/pseuds/anotherfirename
Summary: A ghost hunter and her dead partner put a drowned soul to rest.





	Peace for the Drowned

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posting this from my tumblr for posterity.

I crumple up the fish and chips wrapper and toss it one-handed into the garbage can next to me. The boardwalk is quiet and I can almost see my breath on the air. The last of the quaint cafes and restaurants have closed for the evening, and even the dopey couples walking arm in arm have bailed. We’re heading into winter now so the tourists are few and the fish runs are starting to slow. In a month or so this part of town will empty and freeze with the coming snow.

Ty sits next to me on the weathered wooden bench, swinging his legs back and forth. Both of us are watching the ocean, but in his case it’s hard to tell what he’s really seeing. He sees more than I do, to say the least, but it does mean it’s hard to get him to focus. 

“I used to come here every summer,” Ty says, breaking the silence. “I liked feeding the birds fries even though my mom told me not to. She said it’s bad for them.” 

“Jess says fruit’s better,” I say without taking my eyes off the water. 

“I know. Do you think we can come back and feed the birds one day?” 

“One day. Maybe when spring rolls around.” 

Cold air blows in from the ocean. I pull my coat tighter around my body and curse myself for not having the foresight to dress warmer. The sun set ages ago so I’ve resorted to hunching over and stuffing my hands in my pockets. The water is calm, but that’s not surprising. I’m waiting less for movement and more for a feeling. 

“It smells like fish,” Ty says as he scrunches up his nose. 

“You can’t smell anything,” I remind him. 

“But I can imagine. And I imagine it smells like fish.” 

“Well you wouldn’t be wrong.” 

Ty starts to float upwards until his head is level with mine. I bite back the urge to tell him to settle down. He’s doing no harm, and as long as he’s doing his part it shouldn’t matter if he likes feeling taller. Sometimes I forget that he’s still a kid, and time didn’t have the same effect it did on me. 

We’re the only ones out here now, sitting on a bench badly lit by yellow light from a rusting lamp. The cold air bites, and the water is as dark as ink as it laps at the posts holding up the boardwalk. The sign nailed to the wooden railing between us and the ocean warns that swimming is not allowed and there is no lifeguard on duty. 

Then there is something like tilt in the world as if a massive beast below us has shifted in its sleep. There is a ringing in my ears, and when I breathe in I can taste something like rotten oranges in the air. Unconsciously my hand goes to my knife hidden in the backpack beside me. 

“Ty,” I say, and that is enough. 

He doesn’t respond. He doesn’t need to. 

I start to take off my clothes, leaving everything in a heap on the bench and stripping down to the bathing suit I’ve been wearing most of the day. Finally I take out my knife. If I didn’t look suspicious before then definitely all hope is lost now. Luckily I’m alone, but that was the whole point of freezing my ass off out here. 

I draw my knife and leave the sheath on top of my clothing. I step gingerly to the water’s edge and press up against the wooden railing. I’ve been preparing for this for weeks, but that doesn’t make me eager. I want to huddle for warmth, but I just know my aunt will criticize my form so instead I start to bounce up and down on the balls of my feet. 

“I know I’m not your type,” I call out just to get my teeth to stop chattering for a second, “but come on. Let’s get this over with.” 

I climb underneath the railing and hold on with one hand as I lean precariously over the water. I focus on the tugging at my heart and the way the world seems to just line up when I focus on a certain place. I pull hard at that feeling like a line sunk neatly in my chest to make my presence known and demand I be attended to. My mother always warned me about this, she said that the harder I pull the dangerous they become, but I’m not waiting around any longer than I already have. 

In the shifting darkness below a blurry figure twists together into something vaguely human. The hands form first, but the fingers are like hooks and the palms are too small. The sunken pits for eyes quickly follow, and everything is joined together by jagged shapes that remind me of badly frayed yarn. 

I grip my knife tighter and take a deep breath before letting go of the railing and plunging into the icy water. Salt stings my eyes but I force them open to see my mark. The ghost reaches up to embrace me even as I drive the knife down into his already unraveling chest. Cold arms, even colder than the water, grab onto my arms and pull me under. Except instead of sinking like a rock we buoy just below the surface. Ty is here, glowing through the darkness and grabbing the other ghost’s frayed limbs as he struggles to pull us upwards. His wide eyed panic tells me to hurry up, but underwater everything moves in slow motion. I grip my knife with both hands and push it all the way through the ghost’s empty chest. Power flows from me and into the knife where it collects and amplifies into something greater than I could ever manage on my own. 

Go now. There is nothing left for you here, and I am only killing the worst parts of yourself. 

The ghost writhes and howls in agony as its body is unmade. Frayed limbs unravel entirely into broken strands, but then a second image starts to form in the rapidly growing empty spaces. A young man stares up at me with wide eyes unblemished by death. But still he seethes with rage as he continues to claw at me with fingers that are no longer twisted and hooked. 

Revenge is too quick to linger, and on miserable nights like these I wonder if they ever choose to leave this much hate behind. 

When this new image dissipates I can sense the ghost fading from this existence. Now the only things left of this person are memories, but at least now no one else has to die. 

Ty pulls me to the surface where I sputter and cough on the salt water burning in my lungs. I toss my knife onto the boardwalk so that I can use both hands to haul myself out of the water. With his remaining strength Ty grabs onto my legs and helps me clear the otherwise impossible space between ocean and land. I scramble up the rest of my way myself, scrapping and dragging my body across the wood as Ty quietly fades from view. 

I open my bag and with shaking hands I dig out the towel that was a good idea at the time but is now entirely too insufficient. I clean my knife and sheath it so that I can tuck it away before my luck runs out and someone wanders past. My feet are still wet so they stick when I shove them back into sneakers, but even with the adrenaline still thrumming through my veins I’m too cold to care. I bundle myself up in my coat and leave before I freeze to death and join Ty. I make my way back to my car where it sits alone save for the rusted van with filthy windows and cinderblocks for wheels. As soon as I’m in the car I run the engine for some heat. 

“Ghost busting is miserable work,” I mutter as I hit the button for the defogger before fiddling with the radio. 

“Are we going away again?” Ty asks as he materializes in the back seat. “I don’t like it when we go away.” 

“It won’t be for long. And Tess is coming with us.” 

“You’re not going to like this one.” 

Ty’s voice is too serious and too present for me to ignore. I look up at him through the rear-view window. He stares straight back at me instead of through me like he usually does when my life isn’t in danger, but for all I know my life is in danger. One of my aunts swears that some ghosts can see the future, and I don’t exactly have the experience to disprove her. I hope Ty doesn’t become one of them, but you don’t get far without trusting your partner’s instincts. 

“What do you mean?” I ask, and suddenly Ty is back to his unfocussed and distracted self. 

“I don’t know,” he says. “It’s just a feeling.” 

“I’ll be careful.” 

“You should.” 

I should also be more worried about this, but it’s late and I still feel like I’m going to freeze to death. Even if some ghosts can see the future that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t. I don’t deal with uncertainties when there’s danger right in front of me. And no matter what’s coming next, or who’s coming next, Ty and I will handle it together. That much I do know.


End file.
